on the pulse - 2023 - #2 - RAYE, rebecca black, elle king, kimbra, kelly lee owens, sg lewis, sundy best, fox stevenson
Fox Stevenson - Enemy Brain Entertainment Suite - So it’s actually a bit difficult to review Fox Stevenson beyond ‘drum’n’bass Jon Bellion’ - swap out New York hip-hop swagger and the early experimentation for UK drum’n’bass and brostep where even if it can’t remotely pull off attempts at angst or depth, how much does it matter when the grooves are bouncy and the pop hooks are stickier than they have any right to be. This is his “EP” following his 2019 breakout Killjoy - runs just under a half hour, about as long as it needs to be - and it’s a pleasant listen that dabbles into modern pop punk in some of guitars and lyrics… but let’s be real, I’d prefer more experimental flair and texture and less shallow, undercooked musings, especially as the production feels flimsy and the vocals slide close to AJR territory. This certainly has an audience… more often than not, it’s just not me.
Sundy Best - Feel Good Country - Okay, this came out of nowhere - Sundy Best are a wildly underrated country duo that were loose and fun but also achingly sincere - Bring Up The Sun is one of the best albums of 2014, their next two felt lightweight, so they broke up. But they got back together a few years ago and now with this… first legit terrific country of 2023! Don’t be fooled by the swampy opening track, this is still a bluegrass-leaning, fiddle-saturated, acoustic pair with a rattling cajon, terrific production, and striking harmonies, pulling on gospel and that slips into the content; more settled with God as a gentle force tugging him along, finding comfort in small reunions and release, some actual dramatic heft. So less rambunctious, but maturity’s a good look, and ‘Bad Imagination’ is one of the best songs of 2023 so far - so yeah, great to have Sundy Best back, please check this out!
SG Lewis - AudioLust & HigherLove - The problem I had with SG Lewis in 2021 was despite good production instincts, he was the least memorable part of his music, which could feel lacking in personality as it was. So swap out vintage house and nu-disco for synthwave, late Daft Punk worship, and oversaturated 80s pop rock / The 1975 where it’s at least a flashier experience with the gated drums and technicolor synths… and a sad reminder how tired that sound became when overexposed, which happens running over an hour. And getting Lucky Daye, Ty Dolla $ign, Charlotte Day Wilson, and recycling a Tove Lo song from her last album doesn’t feel like enough, especially when he can’t really sell its thematic juxtaposition between lust and love, the intensity isn’t there. Which is fine - it makes for a breezy summer crowd-pleaser, easy to like… just a forgettable one.
Kelly Lee Owens - LP.8.2 - One of the biggest surprises for me in 2022 was Kelly Lee Owens swerving into some of the best produced experimental ambient music I heard all year, within a thoroughly gripping, time-bending concept record. This is a follow-up EP to that, running just under twenty minutes as a sister project with collaborations with Jenny Hval and… well, it’s still strikingly well mixed and meditative, especially in the low-end, with more textured, percussive glitch coiling around the ethereal vocals on these four cuts. There’s definitely a stronger Bjork influence this time in how it traces its fractured recursions between the primal and futuristic, and despite the desaturated production it yearns brighter. Not sure it has a standout as strong as ‘Release’ - ‘The First Song’ really comes close - but in this weird slice of ambient post-industrial, Kelly Lee Owens found greatness again - please check it out!
Kimbra - A Reckoning - look, I’m rooting for Kimbra - her work’s been uneven since Vows, but it’s five years since Primal Heart and she’s been through hell to self-release this, I really wanted to like it. And yet… for as much as Kimbra uses rap in her genre pileup, I don’t think it works here, and left me wondering if it ever did. It doesn’t help the production is rougher, replacing kookier melodies for dated hyperpop touches with clanking percussion, warbling bass, and clunky flows, where blaring, subversive appropriations of swag maybe clicked in the mid-2010s but stylistically feel weirdly awkward from her now. Maybe it’s because Kimbra’s manic flair has a different edge in her fragile post-breakup rage, where the writing is more lean and raw, which helps the most emotive moments cut but can also feel underpowered. It’s got moments - it opens and closes really well - but I really wanted to like this more.
Elle King - Come Get Your Wife - I think I was too harsh on Elle King’s second album - it wasn’t that good, but it was more a problem of production and overarrangement overshadowing talent, a sophomore album that should have honed in on her strengths. So with Ross Copperman as the primary co-producer and a firmer grounding in country, this is easily Elle King’s most level and consistent album - still colourful with a lot of bouncy, playful flair, but way more balanced and even neotraditional with plentiful fiddle and pedal steel! And Elle King strikes a better balance between new mother and absolute hellraiser, not as cutting as vintage Miranda Lambert but bringing more fun. There is production that feels overcompressed and lyrics that reflect a barbed conservative streak, but her collabs are great and she nails the Tyler Childers cover ‘Jersey Giant’ - broad, splashy, and I think it’s her best to date.
Rebecca Black - Let Her Burn - Look, I’m rooting for Rebecca Black following her hyperpop project in 2021, where she struck a balance of accessible, well-balanced production and storytelling, even if it didn’t quite stick long-term. So now on a proper full-length where the jagged Black Dresses influence erupts in the synthetic vocal layering and a few buzzy riffs, it feels like a step in building a more distinctive voice, especially in the queer, angsty breakup and the BDSM hookups and heartbroken introspection, with an ex that no matter how hard she tries, she can’t escape, especially lingering thoughts of her own messy culpability. But for as much as Black stays in her softer falsetto, I feel like we’re missing a tighter, poppier melody or a sharper burst of energy to put this over the top - the lyrics and production are there, but I think it's missing that final spark to go over the top. Absolutely her best to date… but not quite great.
RAYE - My 21st Century Blues - So here’s a nice story - stranded on a record label who bars her from releasing her own music despite all of her cowrites behind the scenes, RAYE gets out.. and is sees tangible success and hits indie, a major win here! I just wish I liked her full-length debut as much as her story, where RAYE’s vocal performance and lush stylism feels more refined than its uneven construction. At its best, there’s a sultry dramatic flair to the nocturnal blur of trip-hop, bluesy R&B, and pop as she drifts in the autotuned mist of addiction and reclaiming her power from trauma. At its worst, the slapdash pacing and melodramatic framing can feel like Riverdale-core where RAYE’s influences cast long shadows and her poetry feels clunky - her style of performance implies a subtlety where she instead can bring a hammer. So there are overreaches that don’t land, but as a fully-formed debut… yeah, pretty good, worth hearing.